New painkiller: genetically modified virus

Scientists have successfully tested a new method to treat long-term pain, using genetically-modified viruses. By delivering specific genes directly into the spinal column the viruses alleviated severe pain for up to three months at a time and avoided the need for drugs....

In the study Benjamin Storek, of the Mount Sinai School of Medicine in New York, used a virus that was modified to carry the prepro-beta-endorphin gene into nerve cells where it activated opiate receptors, mimicking morphine-like painkillers. He injected the virus directly into the spinal fluid of rats suffering from neuropathic pain. The rats remained pain free three months later. A second gene, interleukin-10, was also effective. The results were published yesterday in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

If this holds up in humans, this would be life-changing indeed for the legions suffering from various forms of chronic pain, for whom opiate painkillers are often only partially effective and have numerous undesirable side effects. Go Team Science!